Dr. Neelapu on ALLO-501 Plus ALLO-647 in Relapsed/Refractory B-Cell Lymphomas

Sattva Neelapu, MD, professor of Lymphoma and Myeloma at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the mechanism of action of ALLO-501 when paired with ALLO-647 in patients with relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) or follicular lymphoma.

ALLO-501 is an investigational, anti-CD19 allogeneic CAR T-cell therapy that disrupts the TCR alpha constant gene to reduce the risk of graft-versus-host disease, says Neelapu. Additionally, ALLO-501 disrupts the CD52 gene, which allows it to be paired with the anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody ALLO-647 to expand the donor T cells and improve their persistence in a patient, explains Neelapu.

At the 2020 ASCO Virtual Scientific Program, results from the first-in-human, phase 1 ALPHA study examining these agents in combination, found that ALLO-501 and ALLO-647 a manageable safety profile in patients with relapsed/refractory LBCL or follicular lymphoma. The former shows evidence of clinical activity in patients with advanced non-Hodgkin lymphoma and the latter may serve as an effective and selective lymphodepleting agent with CD52 gene editing.